In The Eyes Of A Fish
by Ranger of Night
Summary: Things never did go well for Touma, but an invitation to London seems to be just the thing he needs for a change, and possibly a new start. New friends, new life and maybe, just maybe, a new love.AU


Title: In The Eyes Of A Fish

Rating: T

Disclaimer: I dont own...so please dont sue.

Authors Notes: So. Here it is. A Ronin AU. I tried to write this from Touma's eyes as best as possible, so please do not get angry at wording. Please enjoy!

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Shin.

One word…one name actually.

The one that dictated my whole life for me, my reason to live…

The one person I knew I would never be able to live with out.

From his soft voice to the ocean eyes, everything about him entranced me.

Although I'm sure when you're lying half dead in an alleyway anything worth looking at is entrancing.

Maybe I should tell you this from the beginning?

Last week began like any other week. I woke up, glared at my alarm clock, and then promptly went back to sleep—per normal. I live with my mom in New York and most of the time I hide in my room sleeping. Sleeping is a lot better than getting yelled at….or hit. My moms not like other moms, she smokes, she drinks…….and well…..she likes to hit things, mainly me. So anyways…sleep becomes sanctuary. Why don't I just leave you ask? Haha, would love to. But I'm only 17 soooo….if I did it would be running away, and that's not exactly smiled upon here in the states, and if they found me it would give mom more reason to drink and hit.

After hitting the snooze button a few more times I realized I was late for classes….again. I graduated high school when I was fifteen and am currently taking classes at the local community collage—something about me being some sorta' genius, I don't know. So, after pulling on the nearest shirt I could find and grabbing my backpack I ran downstairs and out the door, making sure to stop somewhere on the way to school to get coffee (my other pleasure in life, other than sleeping).

Outside it was beautiful, early summer, nice and warm, with a soft breeze, not a cloud in the sky. The walk to school is about 20 minutes, so there is no need for me to take the subway, wouldn't matter if I had to either—you couldn't force me to go on one of those damn things. After a few more minutes stopped for a second and looked up. Crystal blue was the sky's color at the time and that day it was brighter than I had ever seen, my hand found its way into my left side pocket and wrapped its hand around the familiar orb, cool to the touch. I sighed contently and then caught a glance of a cute ass walking past me. My eyes followed just for a second and then frown as they see the Ass's owner kiss a girl. Damn, all the cute one's are taken….or straight.

I continued my walk and sat through class, nothing out of the ordinary, until my teacher called me up to the front after class was dismissed.

"Touma, would you come here please?"

Shrugging I slung my backpack over my shoulder and made my way towards the front of the room.

"There's a scholastic competition next week in London, they extended you an invitation to go." He handed me a few papers, the invitation and a description of what exactly I was getting myself into.

"I can-"

"If you're worried about finances I can assure you it has been taken care of. I took it upon myself to ask the school to pay for your entire trip, food and all and they were more than happy to. The entire staff wants to see you go Touma, and the prize for winning would be enough to help you get out of your house."

Take it upon my teacher to look out for me. You see, all the teachers at school know about my mom, in case she shows up drunk looking for me. And after last year, most of them have been really stubborn about wanting me to get the most out of life and 'using that brain of mine'. Not that I mind, its nice to get the support from somewhere.

"You're serious?"

"Yes."

And that was it, the start of the not-so ordinary. The rest of the week went by so fast and all my teachers helped me out in studying and picking out books to check out from the library so I would have something to bring with me.

The only thing was…..I didn't tell mom.

I remember running out of the house with my bag slung over my shoulder, I remember running to the subway- and I remember sitting in the back of the last car making sure that the airplane ticket was in my jacket pocket. Thankfully it was, and as I slumped down in my seat I realized that I could start over in London, where no one knew me at all.

I don't remember the plane ride much, I slept the entire way. The competition was scheduled to start two hours after my plane landed, so I figured sleeping would be a good idea- heck, sleeping is always a good idea.

Landing was uneventful, and although I'm used to flying—it's never in a plane, I don't like planes all that much. I was lucky enough to have a few dollars on me that I could exchange for pounds, and with that I bought a map, and coffee.

If you have never been to London, I highly suggest that you go, it's an amazing city and everyone is generally nice. I spent the majority of my time in a small outdoor café; drinking more coffee and reading one of the books I had remember to take with me as I ran out the door—avoiding knives. And that's where I saw him. I remember that one moment so clearly—I had just set down my book and was taking a sip of coffee when my eyes fell upon him. He was walking past the café with another girl, and she was making him laugh. I don't think I have ever seen anything as beautiful as the moment as he walked by.

He was all I thought of during the competition, and amazingly, I placed second overall. There was a reception afterwards, and for once, it was really nice to be accepted by my peers. I had a lot of people come up and ask me questions; get to know me, and just hang out—and then I saw her. The girl that was with him…..

I scanned the room for what seemed like hours, hoping to catch a glimpse of him. I didn't know why I was that obsessed, I had defiantly seen hotter guys…but something about him. Something about him was different, something about him, I don't know, it was just…..there. Something clicked, I felt something. I finally gave up, he wasn't there. I looked down at my drink, and she was in front of me—smirking.

"If you're looking for him, he's not here."

"What?" I looked at her, confused.

"My brother." She replied.

"….I don't even know you, how would I know your brother?"

She shook her head, and then looked at me sadly….I began to wondering if she was just trying to psych me out, maybe because she saw me checking out her….brother?

She took a step closer towards me and looked into my eyes, the saddened look still on her face. I hesitated, who was this girl? Why did she seem to know me? Why did her eyes have that clarity to them? That all-knowing depth? Why, why, why?

"Please……Don't talk to him. He's given up waiting for you. You'll break his heart."

"What the hell are you talking about!?!?" I stepped away from her…confused as who-knows-what.

"Follow me." And with that, she briskly turned and walked, I watched her for a second—then ran after her. I wanted answers, and just maybe she didn't want to give them to me in public.

I found her sitting by the fountain in a park across the street. She wasn't watching for me, she appeared to be watching the water from the fountain.

"I'm only here because I want answers."

"That's fine." She didn't look at me.

"Well?"

"I know you saw him when you were sitting at the café. You felt something, yes? Like something just…clicked?"

My jaw dropped. There was no way she could have known. "Who are you?" I remember my stomach doing flip-flops, could she be like me? Was there a chance?

It was at that moment she looked at me, nothing clicked like it had done at the boy, but I felt oddly comforted, soothed, like I could trust her…and the fact I had no idea why didn't seem to bother me.

"You know who I am Heavens. Just as you know who he is. As for me…I am simply here for you Ronins; as a mentor, guide and healer."

She knew. She knew who I was, what I was….she was one of us….and so was he. No wonder why it had clicked….he was the one….the one I had been missing.

A smirk slid across her face. "I'm sorry Touma, I probably shouldn't have told you this way—but I couldn't think of any other way to tell you…forgive me?"

"Yeah…of course. You're here to help me, aren't you?"

"Yes Touma….but you still can't go near him."

I couldn't help but chuckle, I mean, here I was, in a dark park, with a girl I barley knew, who seemed to know everything about me. "Right. Ok then…so…know a place I can stay?"

"Don't you have a home somewhere nearby?"

"I'm uh….from America."

"Ahh. And you didn't plan, did you?"

"Uh...not really, it was more of a spur of the moment thing when I left."

She shook her head. "I can't offer you refuge in my home, I have to protect him as much as you…but, a friend of ours in town, maybe he will let you stay with him…"

The friend she had mentioned was yet another ronin. Shu was his name, and he was the bearer of Rock. He seemed nice and had no problem in letting me stay; in fact, he seemed thrilled to meet another one of the group.

"Thanks Shu, I appreciate it." She smiled at him warmly and he reached out for her hand, pulling her towards him and hugging her tightly.

"Anything for my girl." He placed a light kiss on hr cheek, which flushed a bright red. I chuckled. Maybe this wasn't so bad- maybe finding the others was going to be the best thing that had ever happened to me, and I was looking forward to it.

"Now. Touma." She pulled away from Shu a tad, still holding on to his hand. "You know about the mind link?"

"Uh….no?" In truth, there was a lot I didn't know about the armor. I could take it on and off, and I knew how to fight in it…that was the extent of my armor knowledge.

"That's alright, Shu will show you tonight. I'll see both of you tomorrow, all right?"

"Yep. No problem Raine, see you and Shin tomorrow."

Raine, at least I was assuming that was her name, wouldn't you at this point? Anyways, she shot Shu a glare, smiled at me and left.

I have to admit, that night, life was better than I could have imagined. Shu and I became really good friends, and he showed me things that I hadn't know, as well as explained the whole Raine and her seemingly odd attitude. He also told me that him and Shin had been trying to find the other ronins, and now that they had found me they needed to find the last two. The rest of the night was spent relaxing, watching movies and eating pizza.

I remember not being able to sleep well, I was too excited. I remember going out onto the small balcony that graced the apartment kento was renting out for the time being. I remember looking up at the stars, feeling free for the first time in my life. Then I saw him. And not just him….someone else was with him.

I ignored him, I knew in my gut that I shouldn't fight without kento, and without knowing who was with him…I didn't dare go off by myself. So I turned around and began to walk back inside.

Next thing I knew…I was in the alleyway, looking up at him.


End file.
